Pope Francis is Sacking Pope Benedict's Bros


Someone who claims he was a confidant of Benedict says Benedict was disappointed with the Francis approach to Latin Mass. The Francis fired a couple of Benedict's favorite Cardinals without consulting with Benedict. Benedict thought he should have been consulted.

Judging from what we see from afar the two men seem as different as day and night. Benedict came up through academic ranks, rigid and removed from parish priest experience. Francis came up through Jesuit life doing parish work and fighting the current political establishment. That the two were extremely different was seen in Francis' refusal to wear the flashy and elaborate trappings of Benedict saying, "This isn't Las Vegas." Benedict was all hat and no cattle.

A form aid to Benedict told reporters Benedict would never have said priests could give "blessings" to gay couples. This fellow did not stress the magic words that bring on Pope Franscis' rage, "We cannot bless sin." Maybe he will survive and keep his free apartment in retirement. Clergy need to be reminded, Pope Francis has his eye on the long-term survival of the denomination. His critics do not. He understands a billion members are never going to agree on even fundamental of tenets. To keep the enterprise functioning it needs to find a way to accommodate those who are at odds with each other. People who can't stand one another need to stay in the Catholic Church for it to survive. Francis is working on that. Weaker Catholics want to condemn and exclude.

The happiness and accommodation of GLBT+ people is the most important issue in all religions, Christianity and the rest. How it is handled, then, will determine how long each religion survives. The more condemning any religion, or, any denomination within Christianity, is the shorter its life. Pope Benedict was the kiss of death for Catholicism. Francis is giving it a chance. 

I just read a comment in Christian Post that illustrates how hard it is to keep Christianity from falling on its sword. It followed an article that reported on the Church of England which has accepted gay marriage. One comment correctly said the institution of marriage predated the Christian church by countless centuries. The brainless Christian replay was that, no, God created marriage. 

Keeping Christianity alive when some of its believers are trying to destroy it is all uphill.

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